The Managing Director of Titan Insurance Brokers Limited, Mr. Francis Ewherido, has called on the government to make fire and special perils insurance compulsory for all markets in the country.
Speaking as a guest on NTA Breakfast Show, Good Morning Nigeria, Friday, Ewherido said no serious government and people should sit by and allow the continuous destruction of markets and traders’ wares by fire the way it is occurring in Nigeria.
Ewherido said about 30 market fires occur every year in Nigeria from available records.
He said while compulsory fire for markets insurance would ensure that traders are restored to their pre-loss position and saved the agony looking for money to start all over again, the starting point in finding solutions to incessant fires in Nigerian markets is to find out the root causes of the fires and nip the problems in the bud.
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Ewherido, who is also a columnist with NIGER DELTA TODAY (NDT) Online, added that while the major role of insurance is to restore policyholders to their pre-loss position, insurance can also be part of efforts to mitigate losses before they occur.
This, he said, insurance professionals do when they carry out a pre-loss risk survey and suggest ways of improving the risk, including discounts for good housekeeping and the installation and ownership of firefighting appliances.
Ewherido said insurance brokers, as intermediaries between insurance companies and policyholders, provide a wide range of professional services to clients, including advising clients on risk improvement measures and reduction in risk exposure and in the process getting lower rates for clients, and these services are available to traders and market associations.
